On Wednesday 4 September, the Cypriot government announced the revocation of the Cypriot citizenship of eight people naturalised under the Citizenship by Investment programme.
Interestingly, the names of the people who have been stripped of their 'golden' passports have not been revealed. It is only known that they include not only investors but also their relatives. The decision to confiscate the passports was taken on the basis of the huge amount of evidence gathered as part of a major police investigation.
This brings the total number of foreigners who have had their Cypriot passports confiscated to 242. It should be noted that a Cypriot passport was recently confiscated from Malaysian businessman Jho Low.
It should be recalled that thousands of foreigners were granted EU citizenship under the Cyprus Investment Scheme.
The programme was originally designed to help the island's economy recover from a protracted crisis. Passports were issued in exchange for investments of up to €2.5 million in Cypriot property. The scheme was particularly popular with Russian and Chinese citizens.
In 2020, however, the Cypriot government scrapped the scheme in the wake of the scandalous Al Jazeera video. An investigation by the Qatari publication found that Cypriot passports were being obtained by criminals and those caught up in international sanctions.
Under pressure from the EU, the island nation's government conducted its own investigation in 2021, which found that of the 6,779 passports issued between 2007 and 2020, more than half went to people who did not meet the programme's requirements. In addition, citizenship was granted to managers of foreign and Cypriot companies who were not investors and business owners.
It is worth noting that:
- Investors who are deprived of their citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus will not be refunded the registration fees they paid when submitting their applications.
- They will not be reimbursed for the financial costs of preparing the application package and the fees of lawyers and consultants.
- The properties they have purchased as a condition of citizenship will remain in their possession.
- Foreign investors who are deprived of their Cypriot citizenship have the right to challenge the decision of the Cypriot government in court.